WATER 4.0 – An important element for the German water industry

Description

WATER 4.0 – An important element for the German water industry

The importance of digitization in our society has been increasing for some time; in the mean time, people have also begun to talk about a new basic trend that can change value creation chains and evolve into a new industrial revolution.

This has given rise to the discussion of terms such as “big data”, “Internet of Things” and “cyber-physical systems”, with the emergence of groups such as the Industrial Internet Consortium and Platform Industry 4.0 revealing the dynamic energy present in this environment. It is therefore imperative for the German water industry to participate actively in these innovation processes, to play a leading role and to maintain and/or further develop its competitiveness.

German Water Partnership (GWP) has made a significant contribution by establishing the working group WATER 4.0 and creating this brochure. The brochure provides the framework for defining the concept of WATER 4.0 and documents the importance of digitization for different user groups.

This shows that there is not merely one solution but rather that – depending on the user groups – different forms of digitization can be important. This is also seen in a wide range of examples where GWP members are interpreting digitization on different levels of the value chain and also in complex integrated systems.
There are many different opportunities for the German water industry to participate in this new industrial revolution and we are pleased that German Water Partnership is actively contributing to this process with this brochure.

GWP Working Group Water 4.0